HOW WE COOK IN TENNESSEE

fry till brown; then add one onion and one quart of okra, both chopped fine, and fry with the chicken. Pour on three quarts of boiling water, and one pint of prepared tomatoes, and pepper and salt to taste. - Boil three hours and serve with rice. The chicken, okra, and onion should be fried in the vessel in which the soup is made, and in a porcelain or tin-lined vessel, as iron discolors the okra.

To Prepare File for Gumbo. — Gather sassafras leaves as late as possible in the season, before they turn red. Put them in the shade and open air to dry. When perfectly dry pound them, sift the powder, bottle it, and keep tightly corked.

Gumbo File. — (Mrs. Jefferson Davis' Receipt.) — One old chicken cut into joints and bits; the bones broken, the head and legs omitted; one dozen large oysters with their liquor; three slices of unboiled ham; half an onion cut into slices; a bunch of sweet herbs tied in muslin, a carrot sliced small, four cloves, half-dozen allspice, three pinches of mace, a pinch of nutmeg, two-thirds teaspoon salt (more if the ham has been boiled), a pinch of cayenne pepper, a little more white pepper, one tablespoon of file. Fry the chicken a light brown. Put in twice as much water as the soup requires ; add the seasoning, the ham, the herbs and simmer for several hours. For a 6 o'clock dinner put the gumbo over the fire at 1 o'clock. When the chicken is cooked to shreds, take out the bags of herbs and spice. Put in the oysters, with their liquor, just long enough to plump them. An even tablespoon of file should be stirred in just as the pot is taken from the stove. The file should not boil. This course must be eaten with rice, a tablespoonful being first put in the soup plate and the gumbo poured over it.

File for Soup. — File is composed of young leaves of sassa- fras, just as they have attained their maturity, but before they have reached their darkest shade of green. They are dried in the shade by the Indians and finely pulverized. File may be obtained from the New Orleans French Market.

14 HOW WE COOK IN TENNESSEE.

The Way to Make Croutons. — There is quite an art in making good croutons. Do not fry them ; they are greasy and indigest- ible. Nor must you spread them heavily with butter. Cut stale bread into slices half an inch thick. Trim off the crusts, cut the slices into cubes of half an inch, put them in a pan and toast slowly in the oven until crisp to the very center. Shake frequently. — Mrs. Rorer.

Marrow Balls. — (To Serve with Soup.) — Take marrow from bone (half cup) and work in water until like butter, salt, one or two eggs, parsley cut fine, bread crumbs to stiffen to dough, roll in balls, dip in flour. Put in soup and when they rise they are done.

Noodles. — One egg for each person, stiffen with as much flour as egg will take and knead well. Roll thin and allow to dry, flour it and cut in narrow strips. Boil in broth fifteen minutes.

Noodles for Soup. — One tablespoonful of water, one pinch of salt and one egg. Roll as thin as you can. When nearly dry roll up like a jelly cake and slice off as thin as possible. About twenty minutes before serving soup put in as many noodles as you like.

Force Meat Balls for Soup. — Put one cupful of cooked meat through a food or meat cutter, fine plate, add to it one salt- spoonful each of salt and thyme, a little cayenne, one teaspoon- ful of chopped parsley, one teaspoonful of lemon juice and a few drops of onion juice. Add enough of the yolk of one egg to moisten, shape into little balls the size of a nutmeg, roll in flour and brown in hot butter. The best way to brown the balls is to put a little butter in an omelet pan, and when hot put in the balls, shaking them until a nice brown.